In the title CuI compound, [Cu(C6H5N5)(C18H15P)2]BF4, the CuI cation is N,N'-chelated by a 5-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-tetrazole ligand and coordinated by two triphenylphosphane ligands in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. The tetrazole and pyridine rings are essentially coplanar [dihedral angle = 4.1 (3)°]. The tetrafluoridoborate anion links to the complex cation via an N-HF hydrogen bond.

The 5-(2-Pyridyl)tetrazole ligand was synthesized according to the literature
method (Demko & Sharpless, 2001) with some minor modification. The
specific
synthetic procedure is as follows: (i) To a 100 ml round-bottomed flask was
added 2-cyanopyridine (0.52 g, 5 mmol), sodium azide (0.36 g, 5.5 mmol), zinc
bromide (1.15 g, 5 mmol), and water (30 ml). The reaction mixture was refluxed
for 5 h, cooled to room temperature. Then the mixture was basified by addition
of 2.5 equiv of NaOH, filtered, acidified to pH = 1, and filtered, and the
solid was washed with water then 5-(2-Pyridyl)tetrazole (0.58 g, 78%) was
obtained.

[Cu(PPh3)2(L)]BF4 was synthesized according to the following
procedure (Kuang et al., 2002): To a 100 ml flask was added
[Cu(CH3CN)4]BF4 0.314 g (1 mmol), triphenylphosphane 0.522 g(2 mmol) and
10 ml dichioromethane, kept stirring for 1 h. Then 0.148 g
5-(2-Pyridyl)tetrazole was added and stirred for another hour. After the
evaporation of solvent, the product was obtained as a light green powder.
Single crystals of complex [Cu(PPh3)2(L)]BF4 suitable for X-ray
diffraction studies were grown from slow evaporation of a CH2Cl2 solution.

Geometry. All e.s.d.'s (except the e.s.d. in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes)
are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell e.s.d.'s are taken
into account individually in the estimation of e.s.d.'s in distances, angles
and torsion angles; correlations between e.s.d.'s in cell parameters are only
used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic)
treatment of cell e.s.d.'s is used for estimating e.s.d.'s involving l.s.
planes.

Refinement. Refinement of F2 against ALL reflections. The weighted R-factor
wR and goodness of fit S are based on F2, conventional
R-factors R are based on F, with F set to zero for
negative F2. The threshold expression of F2 >
σ(F2) is used only for calculating R-factors(gt) etc.
and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement.
R-factors based on F2 are statistically about twice as large
as those based on F, and R- factors based on ALL data will be
even larger.

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province
(grant No. LY12B02013), the Foundation of Zhejiang Education Committee
(Y201119787), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51103136)
and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21207117).